The document discusses the evolution of the National University of Singapore (NUS) under Provost Tan Eng Chye, emphasizing the holistic planning and funding structure of Singapore's educational system, which prioritizes science and technology. It highlights innovative educational initiatives, such as design-centric engineering curriculums and international college partnerships, aimed at enhancing creativity and employability of graduates. Additionally, it addresses challenges posed by increasing competition in higher education and the impact of technological advancements on teaching and learning dynamics.

1. The Evolution of NUS
Prof TAN Eng Chye
Provost, NUS

2. Singapore’s Educational Framework
2

3. Features of the Singapore’s System
1. Holistic planning and effective implementation
• long-term perspective
• consultation with industry and experts (local and foreign)
• careful projection on the economy, e.g., chemical engineering
2. Well resourced ~ S$10B of which 25% to universities
• 75% of universities’ cost are funded by government & 25% by
tuition fees
• Incentives for certain disciplines (e.g., scholarships for S&T)
3. English as the language of instruction
4. Focus on S&T – 55% of university places go to S&T
5. Good teachers, so attrition is low ~ 5%
6. Full employment situation – good matching
• Singapore’s Gem – Institute of Technical Education (or ITE,
vocation school !)
3

4. 0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
120.0
140.0
160.0
180.0
200.0
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
60s:
Labour-
intensive
70s:
Skill-
intensive
80s:
Capital-
intensive
90s:
Technology-
intensive
Future:
Knowledge-
Intensive
The Singapore Growth Story &
NUS…..
GDP $B
TEACHING UNIVERSITY Research-intensive
Enterprise
4

5. 1980s
NUS
(1980)
NTU
(1991)
1990s 2002 2005 20062000
2000
• INSEAD
• Chicago GBS
2013
2006
ESSEC
(France)
2007
• Duke-NUS GMS
• Tisch School of
the Arts, etc
2007
Yale-
NUS
College
SMU
(2000)
Singapore
University
of Tech &
Design
NTU becoming
comprehensive
SMU law
Imperial
Nanyang
Medical
School
Singapore
Inst of
Tech
Rapidly Growing Competition in
Higher Education
5

6. Employability
Wider Higher Education Participation has its problems …
• “India Graduates Millions, but Too Few Are Fit to Hire” – The Wall
Street Journal, Asia Edition, 5 Apr 2011.
• “Up to a Fifth of Graduates “Without Work” after University” – The
Telegraph, 25 Feb 2013.
• “Chinese Graduates Say No Thanks to factory Jobs … China now
produces eight million new college graduates each year, four times as
many as ten years ago. The job market, however, has not adjusted
accordingly …” – China Digital Times, 24 Feb 2013.
• “Millions of Graduates Hold Jobs That Don’t Require a College
Degree, Report Says …. Student-loan programs and federal assistance
programs are based on some sort of implicit assumption that we’re
training people for the jobs of the future …. In reality, a lot of them
are not ….” – The Chronicle of Higher Education, 24 Feb 2013.
6

7. Engendering creativity
…..
7

8. 8
Design-centric Engineering
• Engineering graduates must have
– greater depth of knowledge in specific disciplines OR
– multi-disciplinary knowledge
accompanied by good systems thinking and technology
management skills
• Establishment of Design-centric Curriculum to foster
creativity, innovation, systems thinking and culture of
“thinking outside-the-box”
• Initiatives/Projects with multi-disciplinary themes, e.g.:
- Future Transportation Systems,
- Engineering in Medicine,
- Smart Cities, etc.
• Close linkage between research and education

9. 9
 NUS FSAE 2009
Car (Ranked 19th)
NUS Eco Car 2011 
(Ranked 1st)
 Nano-Satellite Program

10. Research-Education Links
Series of projects with
integrative themes involving
undergrads and graduate
students (from several
disciplines) and post-docs
Other Educational
Programmes,
e.g. entreprenuership
Part of multi-disciplinary
PhD programmes
Future
Transportation
Systems
10

11. Rankings ….
• Like it or not, they are here to stay ….
• This has direct impact on competition for
faculty and students – being ranked indicates
visibility
11

12. World-class Research Faculty?
• University is a talent organization – you need
talented students and staff
• Are our universities resourced as well as the top US
and European universities?
• Endowed donations or direct government support are
sustainable means
• Do we have sufficient research support? – Do we
have to play by “rules” of western countries, in terms
of compensation and research support?
12

13. What is Our Differentiator?
• Top universities do similar things – they
recruit top faculty and students, they do
cutting-edge research, etc.
• Do we have niches or distinctive
programmes which are not easily
replicated by others? E.g., Stevens
Institute of Technology – The Innovation
University
13

14. Translating ideas ….
….. 2 Examples
14

15. Seven NUS Overseas Colleges
NUS College in Silicon Valley (2002)
• Work in America’s innovation “habitat” and study at
Stanford University
• Focus on technology start-ups in Silicon Valley
NUS College in BioValley, Philadelphia (2003)
• Work in America’s pharma hub and study at
University of Pennsylvania
• Focus on bio/medical technology
NUS College in Shanghai (2004)
• Work in China’s commercial hub and study at
Fudan University
• Focus on China-related business
NUS College in Stockholm (2005)
• Work in Europe’s No. 1 IT nation and study at
KTH, Royal Institute of Technology
• Focus on mobile/IT with European perspective
NUS College in India (2008)
• Learn about India’s grassroots innovation and take part in
entrepreneurial workshops by top India institutions
• Focus on business/social innovations in India
NUS College in Beijing (2009)
• Work in China’s political and hi-tech hub and study at
Tsinghua University
• Focus on tech start-ups with China focus
NUS College in Israel (2011)
• Experience the dynamic start-up culture that defines Israel
• Uncover Israel’s heritage of innovation and entrepreneurship
15

16. 16
• mobile security applications
• almost S$1m from investments and
grants
• selected as one of the top 10 wireless
innovations in Asia Pacific by Frost
and Sullivan in Feb 2006
• Bought by McAfee for a hug sum of
money
Rishi (SoC), Darius (ECE) and Varum
(SoC) are tenCube’s founders. Varun
was Darius room-mate in the NOC
Silicon Valley and Rishi is Varun's
project-mate.
tenCube
16

17. Promoting
Inter-disciplinarity &
multi-disciplinarity …
17

18. INTEGRATIVE RESEARCH CLUSTERS
18

19. More Educational
Innovations ….
19

20. University Scholars’ Program (1999)
• Started as the Core Curriculum in 1999
• broadbased curriculum in the first year
• writing module – linking critical thinking and writing
• focus on approach to knowledge, rather than content
• multi-disciplinary modules
Power, Space and Pleasure - Examines how our surroundings
influence the way we think, from the points of view of urban planning,
literature, and philosophy.
Interpreting Consumerism – Investigates the relationship between
human nature and consumption, from the points of view of sociology,
business, and popular culture.
• About 180 students each year with students from 7
Faculties – they choose their major after 3 semesters
• Almost 100% of its students go for a one-semester
exchange overseas
• Introduced the residential component in 2011 20

21. Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School (2006)
21
• NUS second medical school
to provide a pipeline of
physician scientists
• Took in first batch of students
in 2006, using an innovative
“flipped classroom” pedagogy
• Duke University “imported”
the pedagogy in 2011

22. 22
 Diverse Student Community:
• A good mix of local and international
students
• All disciplines
• Graduate and undergraduate students
 Residential College Learning
• Small groups exploring global issues with
Asian perspectives
 Interaction with
research faculty from
NUS, MIT, ETH Zurich,
Technion, etc.
NUS University Town (2011)
Three distinctive features:

23. Yale-NUS College (2013)
To jointly develop a new liberal arts education
model, incorporating the thinking, culture and
contexts of Asia, potentially
a model for others in Asia and beyond
• Attract top-potential students from Singapore & abroad
• Nurture “new breed” of leaders for Singapore & Asia,
for the future
• ∙ Keeps NUS & Singapore
significantly ahead of the curve
23

24. And
impact of
technology on education
….
24

25. Living at app Speed, or How
Our World has Changed
“He [Dr Alvin Rajkomar at UC-SF Medical
Center] reached into a deep pocket of his
white coat and produced not a well-thumbed
handbook but his iPhone. With a tap on an
app called MedCalc, he had enough answers
within a minute to start the saline at precisely
the right rate”
[IHT, 10 October 2012, “Mobile devices are new black bags for
physicians”, p.10]
25

26. Environmental Changes - What
should we do about these?
• The world has changed: driven by mobile
technology and social media platforms
• Rise in forms of online education: Khan Academy,
Udacity, Coursera and EdX
• Foundations’ role in shaping educational shifts
• Our students’ learning style and preferred mode of
interaction are gadget-driven
26

27. Students want flexibility in the
way they access and interact with
information
• Instant notification and
high expectations.
• Support for many devices
and browsers.
• Services on 24 by 7.
• Content creators and
publishers 27

28. Cogito, Ergo Sum
“I think, therefore I am”
(Rene Descartes, 1637)
“If you’re not on Facebook, you don’t exist.”
(22-year-old male student, 2012).
“If you don’t have Facebook, you don’t exist as a
person.” (19-year-old female student, 2012)
28

29. Usual Challenges
29
• The size of our student population:
effective engagement
• Scaling up our programmes:
efficiency and reach
• Physical Infrastructure:
capital and recurrent costs
• Doing more with less:
resource constraints and learning outcomes
• How could we meet these challenges?
• Is Tech-enhanced Education the answer?